Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) said lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are growing more concerned about continued U.S. aid to Pakistan - roughly $4.5 billion this year - unless that government proves its commitment to ending armed Taliban incursions into neighboring Afghanistan.
Levin's comments came as Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), chairman of the Foreign Relations, returned from a trip to Pakistan, the first by a high-level U.S. official since the May 1 special forces operation that killed Osama bin Laden. Kerry said U.S.-Pakistani relations are at a "critical" juncture. Kerry briefed fellow Senate Democrats during a closed-door meeting on Tuesday afternoon, just hours after NATO and Pakistani forces exchanged fire over the Pakistani border.
"There is a real problem with continuing financial support to Pakistan when they continue to support the Haqqani network," Levin said, referring to a Pakistan-based group of Taliban-allied insurgents that operatte against United States and NATO forces inside Pakistan. "These are people that are killing" American troops."
Levin added: "This is not something like bin Laden, where they denied they knew bin Laden was there for five years. . . They do know where the Haqqanis are, they're openly in North Warzistan."
Levin suggested that instead of voting against Pakistani aid, senators might just hold up any funding by refusing to back such legislation
But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he was opposed to such a move, a stance similar to that taken by House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).
"I think right now, we're in a very difficult time [in U.S.-Pakistani relations.] We need to see if we can improve the relationship .... We need a good relationship with Pakistan," Reid told reporters on Tuesday. "But this isn't the time to start flexing our muscles."
Source: http://feeds.politico.com/click.phdo?i=187e5120d1e5615f6778baae129edad0
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